Folsom was elected governor for the first time in
1946 on a
New Deal liberal platform attacking corporate interests and the wealthy. He waged a colorful campaign with a
hillbilly band, brandishing a mop and bucket that he said would "clean out" the
Capitol. His opponent,
Leven H. Ellis, attacked Folsom by saying his election would threaten segregation laws and encourage "communist-backed labor unions". Historian Dan T. Carter summarized Folsom's democratic ideals thus: "(T)he three pillars of a democratic society were the Bill of Rights, an activist and compassionate government, and an absolute and unqualified democracy." In the wake of World War II, which he said was fought "against hatred and violence," Folsom warned voters against those who sought to use mischaracterizations of political ideas to divide "race and race, class and class ... religion and religion." Folsom was among the first Southern governors to advocate a moderate position on
racial integration and improvement of
civil rights for
African Americans. In his Christmas message on December 25, 1949, he said, "As long as the Negroes are held down by deprivation and lack of opportunity, the other poor people will be held down alongside them." On March 3, 1948, Folsom's name was in headlines across the nation when 30-year-old Christine Putman Johnston, who had met Folsom in late 1944 while she was working as a cashier at the Tutwiler Hotel in Birmingham, filed a paternity suit against the governor by alleging that he was the father of her 22-month-old son. Undaunted, Folsom appeared nine days after the suit was filed outside the Barbizon Modeling School in New York City, where he kissed a hundred pretty models who had voted him "The Nation's Number One Leap Year Bachelor," attracting a crowd of 2,500 onlookers and causing a traffic jam. The kissing stunt made national news, but did nothing to halt the political damage. When the paternity suit broke, Folsom was challenging President Truman for the 1948 Democratic nomination. Because of the negative publicity surrounding his case, Folsom lost his bid to represent Alabama as a favorite-son candidate for president in the May 4 Democratic primary. The next day, without prior publicity, Folsom married 20-year-old
Jamelle Moore, a secretary at the state Highway Department, whom he had met during his 1946 campaign and had been dating and seeing "almost daily" since then. Johnston subsequently dropped the suit in June for a cash settlement from Folsom; years later, he admitted to an interviewer that he was indeed the father of Johnston's child. Despite the paternity suit and other scandals during his administration, however, he was easily elected to a second non-consecutive term in
1954. During his campaign, Folsom denounced the
Ku Klux Klan and promised free textbooks for children. As noted by one study, Folsom brought to power "a legislative slate that gave him a working majority in both the House and Senate." The
Alabama Constitution then forbade a governor from succeeding himself, a common provision in other southern states at the time. Folsom was tall and employed the slogan "the little man's big friend." In 1958, Folsom commuted a death sentence imposed on
James E. Wilson, an African American sentenced to death for a violent robbery. The Wilson case sparked international protests, but some segregationists called for Folsom not to commute the sentence. Folsom opposed capital punishment, stating that he would always grant clemency in death penalty cases "if I can find some excuse." He regularly paroled and pardoned black convicts, believing they had been unjustly convicted or punished due to their race."I'd never get anything done for the rest of my term if I did that. Hell, things are getting so bad, they're even trying to take
Black & White Scotch off the shelves." During Folsom's first term, an Act was introduced in 1947 that provided for various employers to provide policies of hospitalization, accident, health and life insurance for the benefit of officers and employees. An Act of September 1947 raised the minimum age of employment of children from 14 to 16 for all occupations during school hours, "except in agriculture and domestic service, and for work in manufacturing establishments or canneries at any time." The Act also reduced the maximum workweek for children from 48 to 40 hours. Another Act from that same month provided for the establishment of a second injury fund "financed by payment by employer of $500 in death cases where there are no dependents." In 1949 coal mine safety legislation was signed into law. An Act of June 1949 related to workmen's compensation introduced various changes such as the provision of full benefits for 550 weeks, instead of reduced benefits for weeks after 400, "in permanent total disability resulting from loss of both eyes or both arms, paralysis, or mental incapacity." An Act of July 1949 increased from 25% to 35% of employee's weekly the death benefit payable to a dependent widower. A diluted sales tax exemption repeal was also carried out, with tax exemptions on alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and stock withdrawn for private use by retail store owners, while revenue was provided for 4 trade schools. An REA loan for an electric cooperative was also secured, while schoolteacher's salaries were raised. Hundreds of new school buildings were also constructed, while a 9-month school term was introduced. Improvements were also made in public health; helped by the passage of laws in 1947 that provided for TB examination and blood-testing. A farm-to-market roads program improved rural life while the establishment of an industrial development commission pleased business, while funding for health, welfare, education and old-age pensions was increased. During his first term, for instance, as noted by one study, "When adopted by both houses, the 1947-49 biennial budget included the promised $5.5 million appropriation for old age pensions and represented an increase of approximately $50 million over the appropriations for the preceding biennium." In addition, Fiscal 1947– 48 was the biggest year on record for the Department of Public Welfare. Increased state appropriations and federal matching funds provided $6 million more than the department had spent in fiscal 1946–47, and for pensioners the department was able to increase the average monthly check from $15.08 to $21.14 between June 1947 and June 1948, while enlarging its eligibility rolls from 27,000 to over 65,000 retired Alabamians. According to one study, Folsom had supported the “largest appropriation of funds for public education in Alabama history.” Further reforms were carried out during Folsom's second term as governor. An Act of 1955 provided for the education of exceptional children, while another Act passed that same year provided for slum clearance and prevention along with the building of good homes. An Act of 1957 provided for a hospital service program for certain needy persons unable to pay for the hospitalization they need. An Act of August 1957 raised from 60% to 75% "the amount of wages of a resident worker exempt from garnishment." An Act from that same month specified (in relation to workmen's compensation) "that in lump-sum payments, which are permitted with court approval, the court must be satisfied that such payment is in the best interest of the employee or his dependents." Another Act from August 1957 raised maximum medical benefits from $1,00 to $1,200, and extended the maximum period from 90 days to 6 months. Further Acts introduced in 1957 provided for supplementary benefits for certain municipal employees, old age assistance for various teachers, retirement supplements for particular state employees, and a State scholarship program for black nurses. Payments to the aged and needy were also increased, while the Relative Responsibility Act (under which elderly pensioners were ineligible for help if assistance could be provided by immediate relatives) was also repealed. ==Unsuccessful races==